The present disclosure generally relates to stroking devices for vehicle seats, and more particularly to seat stroking devices that include tunable force, energy absorbing mechanisms.
Seats in motor vehicles are generally static in nature. That is, the seat provides substantially no stroking forces in the event of a deceleration event. In other words, the seat typically is fixedly attached relative to the vehicle frame.
While current seats are suitable for their intended purpose, it would be desirable for seats to be configured subject to other constraints to keep as low as practically possible the deceleration levels experienced by a belted seated occupant upon a deceleration event. It would be particularly advantageous if the response of these devices were tunable, especially in light of the fact that there is great variability in occupant masses and in rates of deceleration. It would also be advantageous if these devices were reversible (i.e., they could be triggered more than once without necessitating complete replacement).